'You were the best dog ever': Denise Richards mourns the death of her 13-year-old French Bulldog Hank

Denise Richards is mourning the passing of her beloved French bulldog, Hank.

Her loyal companion died Sunday and she took to Twitter to pay tribute to her best friend of over a decade.

'Last night we lost our beloved Hank … I will miss him dearly, 13 yrs old … been there for me thru it all Best dog ever & part of our family,' she wrote, with a picture of Hank attached.

R.I.P Hank: Denise Richards is the mourning the loss of 13-year-old French bulldog Hank

The ex-wife of actor Charlie Sheen, who has three daughters, Sam, Lola and Eloise, has a large family of rescue cats and dogs.

Most recently, Richards led by example and helped a Long Island shelter inundated with extra animals needing homes in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

The actress visited a North Shore Animal League America shelter in Long Island, New York on in November to encourage adoptionsand help with relief operations.

And the 41-year-old was happy to put her money where her mouth is by adopting a gorgeous little girl she named Lily.

According to a post on the shelter's
Facebook page, Richards and her older daughters Sam, eight, and Lola,
seven, became irrevocably attached to the black Labrador mix puppy.

Breaking the awful news: Hank lived a long life for a French bulldog, beating the highest expectancy guide by a year

The post relays: 'During their visit
Denise and her family fell in love with Tara the Labrador Mutt-i-gree
puppy and welcomed her into their home!'

Richard, like many other thoughtful
celebrities, is a huge advocate of adopting from shelters and tweeted on
Thursday: 'Day off tomorrow. Heading to an animal shelter, to help out.
Over 600 rescued from the hurricane. My girls are coming to help too.'

'When I was little, I swear I brought
home every stray dog, hoping my parents would let me keep it,' she
wrote in a blog for iVillage last year. '

Animal lover: Denise is dedicated to saving animals

When I first started acting I would help at shelters... One of the many causes near and dear to my heart is animal rescue.'

Charlie Sheen's ex-wife, who also has a one-year-old Eloise, works closely with Best Friends Animal Society. '

'I am very active in their Pup My Ride program,' she writes in her iVillage blog.

'Every other Monday when I'm not working, I go to the shelter and we take out 30-50 dogs that would otherwise be euthanized.'

Richards has also taken in 'a sweet
16-year-old dog… a dog that was left starved to death and with cancer
(she is doing great) [and] a dog that was abused and had her leg
amputated.'

Lucky pup: Denise Richards has been helping to promote awareness of animals in shelters that need to adopted - especially in the wake of Hurricane Sandy - and she gave this gorgeous dog, Lily, a home herself

Dogged: Denise really is committed to helping dogs, and has stuck with her cause for years

Woman's best friend: Denise knows the value of shelter animals, and the joy they bring

'I have a dog that was a victim of a
very bad hoarding situation - his legs were very damaged, but we fixed
him up too!' she said.

'I also have a dog that was born with
no eyes. These dogs were all going to be euthanized. They are so loving
and so happy at our home.'

With the holidays coming up, Richards
hopes anyone wanting to get a dog or cat to '[adopt] from your local
shelter or a rescue group instead of going to a pet store or breeder.'

'There are so many puppies at the shelters,' she wrote. 'I would strongly encourage you to adopt!'